Carton sealing means



April 3, 1956 E. CORNISH CARTON SEALING MEANS Filed April 1, 1952 Iii Z EN T m a w m Q w/ E 6 V4 Z 5 f1 5 z m W L 37 L4 nited btates 2,740,181 CARTON SEALING MEANS Edward Cornish, Perrysburg, Ohio Application April 1, 1952, Serial No. 279,719 3 Claims. (Cl. 24-261) This invention relates to fastening devices and more particularly to a clip for sealing cartons by clamping the flaps of a carton in closed or overlapping position.

There has been a need for holding the flaps of ordinary cartons in closed position by some simple, easily applied means and without the need for gluing, adhesive tapes or the like. This is particularly desirable where cartons are used to transport frozen food and where the carton is filled and closed in a refrigerated area. It is ditlicult to get glues or adhesives that work at these low temperatures. Also, and probably more importantly, usually it is desired only to temporarily close the carton since the packed carton is transported over relatively short distances. Also frozen foods are frequently packed in insulated cartons and because these cartons are relatively expensive, they must be reused and if adhesives and gummed tapes to secure the flaps are not used the carton can be reused many more times.

It is an object of the invention to provide a clip for fastening the flaps of cartons in closed position that may be quickly applied and quickly removed and that will securely hold the flaps of even heavily loaded cartons in closed relation.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a clip that will not accidentally slip off during handling of the carton.

It is another object of the invention to provide a clip for fastening the flaps of cartons and one that has no projections to catch on other cartons and thereby interfere with stacking of the cartons.

It is still another object to provide such a clip which may be readily grasped for application to the carton.

It is still a further object to provide such a clip that can be inexpensively manufactured of wire by simple bending operations.

It is a still further object to provide a clip for holding the flaps of cartons in closed relation and that has a high degree of resiliency and flexibility but without the need for costly spring wire or movable parts.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a top plan view of invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the same;

Figure 3 is a rear end view of the same;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a carton having the clip of the invention applied thereto, partly broken away and partly in section; and

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the carton with the clip in place taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The invention is a clip or fastening device designed to have secure coaction with and grasp of the flaps of a carton but nevertheless being of exceptionally simple form so that it can be bent from ordinary wire. The design of the clip provides a high degree of resilience in the clip to form a secure attachment and to permit normal variations in the thicknesses of the flaps with which the clip is used and it provides these features without rethe clip of the present 2,740,181 Patented Apr. 3, 1956 sort to spring wire or movable elements of the clip. The clip has no projections of a kind to interfere with stacking or sliding of the cartons on each other.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the clip may be bent out of a single piece of wire, for instance ordinary annealed iron wire of #16 gauge. In side elevation (see Figure 2) the clip is approximately of U-shape with the two sides 12, 13 of the U being approximately in parallelism and spaced apart a desired distance, say approximately of an inch. This spacing of the sides of the U may be varied to accommodate different types of cartons having flaps of considerably different thicknesses.

The sides of the U are of different length so that the outer end of the side 13 projects a short distance out ahead of the outer end of the side 12. The sides are joined at their other ends preferably by a rounded section 16.

The side 12 of the U is composed of a pair of substantially parallel legs 17 and the other side 13 is formed by a pair of substantially parallel legs 18. The legs 18 of the pair making up side 13 are joined to each other at the forwardly projecting end of this side by a rounded section 21 which may be a semi-circle as shown or may be more pointed or wedge-shaped if desired. This portion of the device is inserted into the space between the closed flaps and it may, in certain cases, be desired to form a sharper end at this section 21.

The free ends of the pair of legs at the other side of the U are joined at their forward ends to outwardly and rearwardly sloping wings 23 which project outwardly from the longitudinal center line of' the U a distance approximately equal to the overall length of the U. The wings, as viewed in Figure 2, extend at an angle to the legs of the U soas to cross the longer side of the U or an extension thereof. The free end of each wing is curved upwardly slightly as at 26 or may be otherwise rounded.

While as shown in the drawings the wings extend rearwardly and outwardly at an acute angle to the leg 17 from which they project, they may extend therefrom at diiferent angles, for instance, angles approximately a right angle or even greater angles than a right angle. The angular relation shown in the drawings, however, where the'wings from an angle of approximately 45 degrees with the legs of the U is desirable because it provides a convenient means by which the clip may be grasped for being placed into position on the flaps of the cartons. For instance, as viewed in Figure l, the clip may be grasped between the fore finger and thumb at the upper ends of the pair of legs 17 so that the fore finger and thumb are received in the recesses between the wings and the legs 17 and abut the curved sections 27 that join the wings and legs. This facilitates holding and moving the clip forwardly and inserting the end of the long side 13 of the U into the space between the flaps of the carton. This is particularly advantageous if the packers hands are moist or if the operation is being performed in a refrigerated enclosure where the operators hands are apt to be stiff or where they may be encased in gloves.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5 where the clip is shown in position on the carton, it will be seen that the long side 13 of the U is inserted into the space between the overlying flaps of the carton and is then pushed forwardly beneath one of the underlying flaps of the carton. During insertion of the clip, the wings 23 are forced by their movement over the flaps into a position where they lie approximately in the plane of the short side 12 of the U and approximately in a common plane. This movement of the Wings takes place even in the absence of spring wire or movable sections because each wing and the half of the clip on which it is mounted is joined to the other half of the clip only at the forward end 21 of the side 18 of the U. This provides a considerable extent of wire between the outer ends of the wings and the place at which the two halves of the clip are joined together thereby permitting considerable twisting or torsional movement of the wire as a whole.

When the clip is in place in the carton as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the clip makes essentially a three-point contact with the carton. Two of the points being the outer ends 26 of the wings and the third point being the upper face of the long side 18 of the U, principally at the forward end of this side. Due to the resilience of the clip and the pressure with which the wings and the long side of the U bear on opposite sides of the overlying flaps, the clip tightly grasps the flaps of the carton and secures itself in place against accidental displacement. This is advantageous where cartons are stacked and slid on top of each other and the corner or edge of one carton might be pushed against the clip on the carton underneath. It will be noticed, also, that the clip of the present invention has only the thickness of the wire raised above the upper surface of the carton so that stacking of the carton and the sliding of one carton over another is made possible with a minimum of interference from the clips. v

While the clip has been described as being made from wire bent into the configuration shown and described, it may be formedof other materials, for instance, it may be a casting or it may be formed of a plastic material or other suitable material. Forming the clip from wire, however, permits it to be manufactured at a low cost which warrants its use even as a temporary means of holding cartons sealed. Loss of the clip may be minimized by attaching it to the carton with a short length of cord if desired.

Other modifications of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

may be made I claim:

1. A clip for holding the flaps of cartons and the like in closed relation comprising an element of substantially U form with the sides of the U being substantially parallel to each other and spaced apart to receive carton flaps between them, and a pair of wings in diverging relation to each other joined to one of the sides of the U at a point adjacent the open end of the U, both said wings lying substantially in a common plane that extends transversely of both sides of the U to exert pressure on the flaps received between the sides of the U.

2. The clip. of claim 1 wherein each of the wings forms an acute angle with the side of the U from which it extends.

3. A clip for holding sheets of material in overlapping relation, comprising a pair of elements each of substantially U shape with the sides of each U-shaped element being of unequal leng'th5'the elements being disposed in side by side parallel relation and the longer of the sides of the elements being joined together at the open ends of the U-shaped elements, a wing extending from the shorter of the sides of each U-shaped element adjacent the open end of the element with the wing in acute angular relation to said shorter side, both wings lying substantially in a common plane that extends transversely of both sides of both U-shaped elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 550,274 Johnson Nov. 26, 1895 550,604 Eastwood Dec. 3, 1895 581,901 Cole May 4, 1897 797,007 Lott Aug. 15, 1905 1,759,142 Talisman May 20, 1930 2,463,079 Albrecht Mar. 1, 1949 

